Parties in preparation for Elam and Bajhang bypolls

Bye-elections are going to be held on May 15 in Elam Constituency-2 for the House of Representatives and Bajhang Constituency-1 (1) for the State Assembly. Ilam-2 was vacant after the death of UML Vice President and Constituent Assembly Speaker Subaschandra Nemwang on August 26. Similarly, in Bajhang, the state MP Prithvi Bahadur Singh, who was elected from the Congress, passed away on June 25 and became vacant.

UML has decided to field Suhang Nemwang in Ilam and Daman Bahadur Bhandari in Bajhang. The secretariat meeting of UML held on Sunday started the exercise of selecting candidates and gathering the support of the parties participating in the ruling coalition. Suhang is the younger son of UML leader Nemwang. A legal practitioner, he has already started running for election even before the party nominated him. UML Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali said that the entire party line has been mobilized to make the UML candidate win, and other parties in the alliance have also been appealed for support. The other component of the

alliance, the Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RASWPA), has decided to compete in a friendly manner. Maoist General Secretary Dev Gurung said that although it is natural for political parties to participate in the by-elections, a decision has yet to be made on who will be nominated. "They participate in the election automatically, but we will discuss and finalize it within a day or two as to who will be the candidate," said Gurung. On the question whether the alliance will have a single candidate or not, he said, "The RSVP has said that it will field a separate candidate." UML has already selected its candidates. In such a situation, it is not possible to say whether or not there is an agreement between the coalition parties. We will know how far we can go only after dialogue in the alliance.'

RSVP Vice President Swarnim Wagle said that his party had decided long ago to go through a friendly competition. He informed that since the process of primary election for the selection of candidates has already started, the candidates will be decided by next Saturday. Our party has a friendly competition. "We have not made a policy of alliance with anyone," he said. RSVP has decided not to contest in the state assembly election of Bajhang.

In the November 2079 election, there was a tough competition between UML's Nemwang and Congress candidate Dambar Bahadur Khadka in Ilam. Nemwang was elected by a margin of 114 votes. While Nemwang got 30 thousand 20 votes, Khadka got 29 thousand 906 votes. At that time, Congress had an alliance with Maoist and United Socialists in the elections. That equation is broken now. UML is trying to get the support of Maoist and S who are currently in power coalition for their candidate.

Meen Biswakarma, Head of the Congress Publicity Department, said that names have been recommended by the following committee for candidate selection and it will be decided within a few days. There is a strong possibility that the Congress will move Khadka, an earlier competitor, as its candidate. Khadka is also the party president of Ilam. "Previously, they were defeated in the election only due to technical reasons. Since Khadka is strong in Eelam, there is a possibility that the party will make him a candidate, said Vishwakarma.

The number of votes obtained by the RSVP in the ruling coalition in 079 is low. Prakash Sapkota, who became a candidate from RSVP in Elam, got only 1,380 votes at that time. This time, RSVP is trying to make a famous personality as a candidate. "The names of 4-5 people have come from below. It is impossible to tell who will be among them. According to the provisions of our constitution, candidates are selected through primary elections. "The Central Committee will decide on the candidate only where the membership of the party is low," said Vice President Wagle.

Head of Publicity Department Jagannath Khatiwada said that a decision will be taken on whether S will contest or not. According to the Election Commission, 20 political parties have been registered to participate in the House of Representatives elections and 19 for the Provincial Assembly elections.